Review: FOX’s ‘The Goodwin Games’ has potential it won’t get to realize

I hear it a lot: I don’t want to waste time watching a new show that might be canceled; if it’s a success, I’ll try it. On the one hand, I get it: I’ve been frustrated (and, in some cases, sad) when a show I invested my time and energy into got canceled in the early stages, and in some cases might have preferred not to have seen it. On the other, I’m grateful for even the one season I got of “Freaks and Geeks” and “Terriers,” and I know plenty of Bryan Fuller fans who revere “Wonderfalls” even though FOX pulled it after only four episodes.

That said, “Freaks and Geeks” is a classic, and was very clearly one from the first episode. The harder call is making an investment in a show that has potential it hasn’t realized yet, and that might not be on the air long enough to figure itself out – or, in the case of a show like FOX’s “The Goodwin Games,” that will never have that chance.

“The Goodwin Games” debuts tonight at 8:30 Eastern, and the week after Upfront Week is a reminder of how silly the whole process is. FOX ordered this show a year ago, planned to rotate it in with its Tuesday comedies at midseason, then gave up on it when “Ben and Kate” failed out of the gate and the entire night imploded. Seven episodes were shot, then shelved, and that was it. Scott Foley went on to do an arc on “Scandal,” Beau Bridges did a CBS pilot (“The Millers”) that got picked up, etc. Everyone has moved on. It’s as pure a case of Summer Burn-Off Theatre as you can find.

And if the show – starring Foley, Becki Newton and T.J. Miller as estranged siblings who have to compete in a series of wacky competitions for the fortune of their late father (Bridges) – was great out of the gate, or even very good, I’d be setting aside the next six weeks to watch and enjoy it, even if these seven episodes would be all I’d get. I’m happy with the six episodes of “Police Squad” I got, the 6 “Bent”s, the 13 British “Office”s, etc. Shows don’t need to run forever – even if this one was canceled long before any one of the siblings would win the fortune.

But “The Goodwin Games” pilot is… okay. Fine. Pleasant. It has a likable cast, and the creative team – “How I Met Your Mother” co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, plus “HIMYM” writer Chris Harris and director Peyton Reed (“Bring It On”) – have adopted a style that feels like a less twee version of “The Royal Tenenbaums,” mixing in flashbacks of all three siblings as feuding kids with their present-day Trivial Pursuit games and other competitions. It’s sweet in spots (mainly in scenes involving Miller’s ex-con man-child trying to reconnect with his daughter), and the idea has potential, even though this is a premise pilot that has to spend so much time introducing the siblings and the competition that none of it’s fully realized.

It is not, however, especially funny (I’m not even sure I cracked a smile), and the pilot, at least, leans clumsily on expository dialogue more than than you would expect given that A)flashbacks to their childhood are built into the format, and B)this is a show from the “HIMYM” guys.

There are definitely pieces here of a good comedy. If FOX had actually put it on the air at midseason, and given it the standard 13-episode order – or the 24 episodes that, say, “The Mindy Project” got to figure itself out over its first season (spoiler: it’s not quite there yet, though it gets close at times) – I imagine I’d have set the season pass to see whether the creative team could figure out how to put it all together. But seven episodes isn’t enough for a show whose pilot still feels like a rough draft, and there won’t be anything past these.

The pilot’s already up on Hulu (see below), and Bays has been retweeting positive comments for the last couple of day, so others’ enthusiasm for it may be greater than mine. But for me, there’s not enough here to commit to a show that’s dead on arrival.

For those who’ve already watched the pilot, what did you think? And if you don’t see it til after the airing tonight at on FOX, feel free to comment here.

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"Review: FOX’s ‘The Goodwin Games’ has potential it won’t get to realize"

By: the minister

05.20.2013 @ 11:25 PM

Let me amend the fan sentiment for you Alan:

“I don’t want to waste time watching a new show”…. by Carter and Bays.

(Maybe if they were given exactly three seasons & a secret ninja hit squad was hired in escrow to assure the contract.

Maybe.

Maybe not. My theory is they have such swelled heads from all the fangirldom for HIMYM that they’ll never make a good show again. Some folks just can’t succeed with success. Cases in point: *every single thing they’ve ever said about the latter seasons of HIMYM*)

By: David

05.21.2013 @ 1:50 AM

I was thinking the same thing. Carter and Bays have used up any and all goodwill with me since the cratering of HIMYM since (for me) season 2.

By: Heisenberg

05.21.2013 @ 2:19 AM

Word.

That was gorgeously articulated.

By: leemats

05.21.2013 @ 10:51 AM

It’s Bays and Thomas, but everyone makes that mistake.

By: Krista

05.21.2013 @ 5:26 PM

Exactly my sentiment. I would be willing to invest time watching a show without a future so long as the “creative” team of Bays and Thomas weren’t a part of it.

By: asdf

06.02.2013 @ 7:58 PM

Mega-dittos for this one. ;)

Again, they’ve got a concept show that relies on some discipline about the meta-plot. Discipline we know they don’t have. After one case of Chris Carter Syndrome, they’ve burned audience goodwill. Same thing goes for Ron Moore and BSG (which probably explained Caprica’s ratings), and same goes for the Lost team. I’m not getting invested in a show for 5-6 years, only to find out that instead of the dramatic payoff they promised, they squeeze every drop of creative juice out of the concept, jump the shark, peter out, dash off a cop-out ending, and then tell us what geniuses they are.

Part of what made Buffy and Angel work for me in its entirety was the knowledge that there WASN’T a massive metaplot. Joss delivered exactly what he promised. Babylon 5 is the only show I can think of offhand that made this promise and actually delivered.

Even if it really is about the journey, not the destination (and if that were REALLY true, then why do showrunners like this keep teasing us about the destination in the first place?), then the fact that I know the metaplot promise is bogus in advance kind of ruins my ability to suspend my disbelief.

By: PY

05.20.2013 @ 11:38 PM

This article just brings back painful memories of the sad “Bent” “when is a burnoff not a burnoff?” fiasco. That one was pretty good from the get-go.

By: KobraCola

05.21.2013 @ 12:13 AM

I wouldn’t say I “miss” Bent, but it was enjoyable to watch for sure.

By: Anon

05.21.2013 @ 12:31 AM

Loved “Bent.” The ending was pretty perfect, though.

By: KobraCola

05.21.2013 @ 12:13 AM

Watched it, it was indeed mediocre. Like the premise, but it just wasn’t that funny IMO.

By: SJ

05.21.2013 @ 12:25 AM

Just a little correction: you mentioned (at least like four times) the the episode count for the series is six. It’s actually seven.

By: parker

05.21.2013 @ 1:54 AM

Now you just made me miss ‘Ben & Kate’ all over agin.

I hope Becki Newton can find a show worthy of her considerable talents. She kept me watching ‘Ugly Betty’ long after I’d lost interest in everything else in that show.

By: DougMac

05.21.2013 @ 4:51 AM

I liked it but didn’t love it. I will likely watch all 7 episodes too.
Also, for the record, I loved Bent last year too and am also happier getting only one season of Freaks & geeks or Terriers than getting none at all.

By: Brian Cronin

05.21.2013 @ 8:19 AM

I just don’t want to watch a show about a game where the game does not actually end. If this show has an actual ending, I’d be glad to give it a shot (Terriers, for instance, had a great ending). But if it doesn’t have a real ending, I think it would piss me off too much. I wish Carter or Bays would comment on whether the show has a real ending or not.

By: RWGibson13

05.21.2013 @ 11:10 AM

::sigh::

You had me at “Terriers.”

RWG (still wondering if I will ever get to see that series released)

By: Drake

05.21.2013 @ 10:00 PM

I agree. It has potential, but wasn’t really funny. I’ll be watching the entire season out of loyalty to Bays and Thomas, but I’m not sure I’ll watch them live when they air. Probably catch up on demand or online.

By: Ben

05.22.2013 @ 5:36 PM

The best Summer Burn Off case I ever saw (though not because the show itself was good) was NBC’s disposal of the Dabney Coleman-starring sitcom “Madmen of the People” back in the summer of 1995. It was fascinating because the Peacock originally had that show in the coveted 9:30PM Thursday spot between “Seinfeld” and a new medical drama about doctors in Chicago called “ER”. The show they initially put at 8:30 and moved to 9:30 to start making TV history? “Friends”. It was interesting to see what NBC saw in MotP rather than the six 20-somethings who’d be there for you. And watching the burn off didn’t really make the scheduling obvious. In any case, now that there are just fewer dominant network lineups, there are fewer shows that became footnotes of history. Sad in a way.

By: matt s

05.27.2013 @ 12:14 AM

i remember madman of the people–they thought a show about a grumpy, frequently irritated middle aged guy who cared very little for social nicities would nicely follow the incredibly popular gang of frequently irritated somewhat middle aged (they weren’t as young as friends at least) people who care very little for social nicities. (Truthfully this would’ve made more sense if Larry David were the lead of Seinfeld as I could see David and Dabney Coleman sharing some similar sensibilities humor wise–they’re both content to be abrasive but likably abrasive)

Besides Friends originally occupied the 8 30 spot which was in between Mad About You and Seinfeld–to me that’s more interesting because i think the only thing Friends had in common with Mad About You was that they were both set in Manhattan and both sometimes had sexually frank situations but in terms of tone and humor they were kind of different shows.

By: Lauren

05.29.2013 @ 3:38 PM

I love the show. People forget that the first few episodes have to be a bit expository because it’s setting up the entire series. That’s what good writers do. Nothing is worse than watching a show for half a season and you still feel left in the dark. People also forget that family guy was cancelled and then brought back to be one of the most popular t.v shows ever. Most people seem not to know what is good until they are told it’s good. Well, this show is great and I hope they keep it around long enough for other people to recognise it’s potential.

By: Barb

06.11.2013 @ 5:34 PM

I agree with Lauren. I think the show is great and needs a chance. Do you realize with the current protocol Seinfeld would have never made it! They were panned and critics hated it. Sometimes a show just needs time to develop its characters.

By: Jamie

07.02.2013 @ 12:51 AM

I completely agree… I think this show has great potential, and they should bring this show back!

By: zee

06.12.2013 @ 9:20 PM

Thanks for telling me. I was going to watch it and now I am not.

By: Aaliyah

06.21.2013 @ 12:13 AM

Sooo… you let someone else dictate your opinions.

By: amanda

06.13.2013 @ 7:51 PM

I think the show is very funny with a great cast. It has a lot of potential. It needs to be given a chance to let the characters develop and maybe some more promotion would be nice!

By: Kelly

06.14.2013 @ 3:56 AM

lol- Amanda… do you work for the show??? (or know someone who does?)

By: Kelly

06.14.2013 @ 4:04 AM

Very disappointed. Gonna have to stop watching. Surprised to see T.J. Miller, was fan of his watching him do stand up, but then he started rapping… had to jump the ship then. Happy for his success though- just not sure this show is gonna be what maybe they all thought it could be.

By: CharlesD

06.27.2013 @ 3:29 PM

The CD he released was esentially a parody album… He makes references to Kesha, Owl City, and all of the rappers who constantly compare themselves to, everything. He said he didn’t “get” music, so he decided to make an album poking fun at it.
As far as the show goes, I loved it. You (along with many other people here) are saying you simply won’t watch because… someone told you not to? A show will never be a success if people blatantly choose not to watch.

By: tak

06.24.2013 @ 2:31 AM

every time i read story about shows getting cancelled early i think of reaper…

By: Mandi

06.27.2013 @ 8:12 AM

I personally think Fox needs to take a long walk off a short cliff. While I’m not saying “Goodwin Games” is the next Dollhouse, Firefly, Futurama, etc. This network- or pathetic excuse thereof- seems to just cancel things because they feel like it. I imagine that on the back of the conference room door there’s a giant dart board with all the different shows on it and they just throw random cancellation darts at the door and POOF- gone. This show, while not appealing to the masses the way HIMYM b/c of it’s intellectual high-brow comedy, is well crafted and really had potential. It would be nice to see Hulu pick it up as they have done for other shows, or even see it shuffled to another network. A network that doesn’t just cancel things all willy-nilly.

By: Clm

07.13.2013 @ 1:02 PM

HULU picking it up would be nice. My mother cancelled her cable and we got a roku box instead. We found this show and began watching. We found it to be fairly entertaining.